Dehydrated potatoes and process of preparing the same.



No Drawing.

UNITED sTA Es'r TEn ERNEST-WILLIAM cooxn, OF NEW YORK, it. 1%., ss GnOa-BY nrsnn assre L TO THE COKEL COMPANY, A CORPORATION OFNEW JEnsEr:

' DEHYDRATED POTATOES AND PBGGESS OF PREPARING THE SAME;

Patented May 7, 1912.

new and useful Improvements in Dehy- 5 dra'ting treatment.

drated Potatoes and the Processes of Preparing the Same; and I do declare the fol- Q lowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to whichit appertains to make and use the same.

My invent-ion relates to a novel food product, namely, dehydrated slightly cooked potatoes of substantially unchanged structure, and to'the process whereby the same are prepared.

I The result of the process, which Will be' hereinafter described in detail, is, as far as,

I am aware, an entirely novel food-product,

which will be of the greatest utility, since the dehydrated potatoes, which are of course very much reduced in bulk and weight, since water constitutes a large ele-' ment'of potatoes, can be kept indefinitely in suitable packages, simply require the ad dition of water to' return them to their Original hydrated condition, and cannot thenb e distinguished in any way from the original material subjected to the dehy- While I usually comminute more or less to facilitate the operation, the comminuted product of the present process is substan? tially the same as a fresh vegetable in a similar state of comminution.

The size of the particles or pieces into which the potatoes are divided as above stated may vary widely, but it is conven-.

ient and gives good results to divide them into pieces having at least one dimension of not more than about one-half an inch,

whether they are to be afterward shredded,

or otherwise finely dividedbefore being dehydrated, or are to be dehydrated without beingfurther divided.

The essential feature of my "process by which this novel and useful result is ob.- tained is the maintenance during the operation in an intact condition of the cell walls of substantially all the cells which inclose the starch granules, whereby the latter are prevented from coalescing. The maintenance of the intact condition of. the cell Walls of the majority of the cells of the Application filed January-11 1905. Serial No. 240,666.

:water to the dried product will produce. a

mucilaginous starchy mass, which. is entirely {inedible The process consists of the followingsteps:' The potatoes are first steamed or iboiled in the usual way, either with .or' withfout their skins, and if the skins have not been previously removed the potatoes are then peeled. Since the Object-of the. .subis equently described operations is to produce fa product having the majority of the cells unruptured, the cooking obviously should.

;not becarried too far. The next step consists in dividing the potatoes int-o suitably sized particles, in an atmosphere of from !30 to 100 F; This operation, which of course may be performed'by hand is howfever, preferably'performed by suitable apparatus, which constitutes no part ofmy present invention, any apparatus being adapted for the present purposes which will comminute the potato to the desired degree without producing anyfsubstantial 'disintegrat-ion of the resulting particles, and where such apparatus is used, I direct a current of air, of a temperature between the limits mentioned, through the potatoes, while they are being divided.

The resulting-material may be shredded, or otherwise more finely divided, but it is essential that in this operation the cellwalls which inclose the starch cells or granulesbe not. ruptured, as would be the case if the potatoes were divided by a grinding or. crushing operation. The shredding may be performed by forcing the potatoes through a screen in such a manner as not to pulp or otherwise destroy the cellular structure and the resulting material is then dehydrated by being subjected to the action of and does not reach a temperature at which any substantial injurious" change of. the potato will result. ,While this shredding operation divides the potatoes into small particles, yet the latter are still relatively large compared with the cells inclosing the starch granules, and I have discovered that. said cells, or at any rate the vastly greater num-.

her of the said cells, are not ruptured by shredding where proper methods of comminution are adopted. It is the fact that these cells'are maintained intact which en- 5 ables the potatoes on remoistening to be perfectly returned-to their original condition.

The stated temperature of the air employed in dehydrating is essential, for I have found that unless the temperature is maintained between the limits vmentioned mechanically present it has not lost its.

water of constitution. If the water of constitution be expelled, as may happen if the conditions set forth are not adhered to, the

product cannot be restored to its original texture and compositionby the addition of water. The addition of water to the dried material can only restore the original material where the drying operation has removed only the water mechanically present.

The dehydrated shredded potatoes obtained by this process can be kept indefinitely in sealed packages and can be prev pared for the table by the simple addition of either hot or cold water, which serves to restore the potatoes-to exactly their original hydrated condition, so that they cannot be distinguished from potatoes prepared in the usual way and cooked to the same degree.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

potatoes, which consists in slightly cooking p otatoes' under conditions not causing rupture of the cell walls, and then, while the cooked potatoes are in a condition with the cell walls of substantially all of the vegetable cells containing the starch granules intact, dehydrating them by subjecting them P to the action of dry air at a temperature insulficient to produce material changes in- 0 the composition of the potato or to remove water of constitution. 2. The process of preparmgdehydrated potatoes, which consists in cooking pot toes under conditions not causing rupture of the 1. The process of preparing dehydrated cell walls, dividing the cooked potatoes in a current of air at a temperature of from 30 to 100 F. into suitable sized pieces or particles in such a way as to leave the cell walls of substantially all of the vegetable cells containing the starch granules intact, and dehydrating the cooked and divided potatoes by Sub ecting them to the action of dry air at a temperature insufiicient to produce material changes in the composition of the potato or to remove water of constitution.

- 3. The process of preparing dehydrated potatoes, which consists in cooking potatoes under conditions not causing rupture of the cell walls, dividing the cooked potatoes while in a current of air of a temperature of from 30 to 100 F. into suitable sized pieces or particles in such a way as to leave the cell walls of substantially all of the vegetable cells containing the starch granules intact, and dehydrating the cooked and divided potatoes by subjecting them to the action of dry air of a'temperature of from 100 to 180 F.

4. The process of preparing dehydrated potatoes, which consists in cooking potatoes under conditions not causing rupture of the cell walls, shredding the cooked potatoes by passing, them through a screen in such a way as to leave the cell walls of substantially all of the vegetable cells containing the starchgranules intact, and dehydrating the cooked and shredded potatoes by subjecting-them to the action of dry air at a temperature insuflicient to produce, material changes in the composition of the potato or to remove water of constitution. I

5. As a new article of manufacture,

slightly cooked dehydrated potatoes having the cell walls of substantially all of the cells inclosing the starch granules intact and having such starch granules in an intact condition.

6. As a new article of manufacture, dehydrated finely divided potatoes having the cell walls of substantially all of the cells inclosing the starch granules intact.

In testimony whereof, I afiix my signature, in presence of two witnesses. I

ERNEST WILLIAM OOOKE. Witnesses H. BROOKWAY,

JOHN S. POTTER. 

